Turkey recalls envoy after US vote on Armenian 'genocide'

By AGENCIES

ANKARA: NATO-member Turkey on Thursday recalled its ambassador to the United States for consultations after a vote in a US congressional committee branded the World War One mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman forces genocide.

The Foreign Affairs Committee narrowly approved the resolution with a 23-22 vote, but it remained questionable whether it will be taken to the floor for a full vote in the House of Representatives.

In a statement, Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan also said he was seriously concerned that the non-binding resolution would harm Turkish-US ties and efforts by Muslim Turkey and Christian Armenia to bury a century of hostility.

"We condemn this bill that blames the Turkish nation for a crime it did not commit. Our Washington ambassador was invited to Ankara tonight for consultations," Erdogan said in a statement posted on his office's website.

"We are seriously concerned that this bill approved by the committee, despite all our warnings, will harm Turkey-US ties and efforts to normalize Turkey-Armenia relations." Turkey, a Muslim but secular democracy, plays a vital role for US interests from Iran to Afghanistan to the Middle East.

Turkey and Armenia last year signed an historic deal to bury a century of hostility and open their border. The deal, signed with the endorsement of the United States, European Union and Russia, still has to be ratified by both parliaments in Ankara and Yerevan.

Turkey accepts that many Christian Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks but denies that up to 1.5 million died and that it amounted to genocide - a term employed by many Western historians and some foreign parliaments.

In 2007, Ankara recalled its ambassador after a US panel approved a similar bill. Then-President George W. Bush warned against passage and the measure never came to a vote on the House floor. The ambassador returned to his post after one week.

Comments

OKTAY

Report abuse
What is going on today in the world is just crying injustice.In the USA the recollected what happened almost 100 years back.This was not genocide-genocide is the systematic and widespread extermination or attempted extermination of an entire national, racial, religious, or ethnic group.But it was just WAR and many people from different nations died. But REAL GENOCIDE was commited by armenian against azerbaijani people 15-18 years back.Many hundreds children,female,old people were brutaly and cruelly killed.Why the US Congress does not remember this???

JAMES

Report abuse
Turkey's parliament along with other peace loving and civilised countries parliament should put a resolution on vote to decide if American War in Iraq and Afghanistan should be classified as a Genocide commited by America. Americans have killed over a million in Iraq and a large portion in Afghanistan, totalling atleast close to 1.5 million people massacred by America.
This is a Genocide which is presently going on. Forget what was done over 100 years ago. Focus on today.

JAMES

Report abuse
The Armenian Genocide has been recognized by 42 US states, 20 world government, the European Parliament, Presidents Reagan and Obama, the International Association of Genocide Scholars and 126 Holocaust and Genocide scholars per the New York Times. It's about time Turkey paid up for its past crimes. Good for the USA for doing this.
Post your comment

required

required (email will never be displayed)

Please enter the following characters in the box provided (case sensitive). This helps us prevent automated programs from creating accounts and sending spam.

All comments are subject to approval

Terms and conditions

Latest comments

Iran attack: History does not repeat itself too often

Arab countries should stop leaning on the shuolders of the west as they are dividing and ruling

Abbas at Feb 9, 2012 03:57

23 comments

New company to streamline manpower sector

Lol@KRUS Comment... Nice n timely example... <br/>So the egg is hatching after all the fuss abo

Salman at Feb 9, 2012 03:56

2 comments

Double veto pushes Syrian parties to the edge

Humanity is the forte of islam and muslims but shamefully for muslims, christians and others h

abdul hafiz at Feb 9, 2012 03:55

6 comments

US threats to cut aid won’t work: Egypt’s PM

No aid is something that the US and Egypt can agree on. <br/> <br/>Opinion polls show that the

Gert at Feb 9, 2012 03:55

1 comments

Attacks in Syria’s Homs resume after Russian peace foray

Watching the news tonight a man on the street in War torn Syria screams Wheres the U.N. ? Where

Joe at Feb 9, 2012 03:53

1 comments

Haia recruits to be trained

These recruits should also be taught to clean their offices. The hai'a office a stone's throw f

Dario Cansino at Feb 9, 2012 03:53

10 comments